Allysin Kay on Nearly Retiring in 2018 Due to Blood Clots, Being Considered a Veteran

Allysin Kay has never seriously considered retirement, but there was one time she thought she might be forced to retire due to having blood clots in her lungs. Kay was a guest on the latest episode of Taylor Wilde’s Wilde On podcast and discussed being considered a veteran these days, as well as the scary period in 2018 when she was diagnosed with the blood clots and thinking she might have to retire. Fortunately it cleared up and she is still competing, but it was a difficult moment for her. You can check out highlights and the full audio below:

On being considered a veteran: “It’s weird, yeah. It doesn’t register still. Like, I’m starting to slowly realize that I am no longer the baby in the locker room. I look around, and I’m like, ‘Oh no! I’m the vet? Do I use that word? I don’t know!’ [laughs]

“Sometimes I just remember, coming up sometimes it was used like a dirty word. I think just because some people would be self-proclaimed as a vet. And you know, just because you’ve been wrestling for a certain amount of time doesn’t mean that you have the experience or doesn’t mean you’re a good teacher. Doesn’t mean a lot of things. I mean, of course you want to be respectful to everyone, but I just remember coming up and sometimes it was used like a bad word. So I feel weird. I don’t want to be one of those people who are self-proclaimed. If people want to call me that, go ahead.”

On if she’s considered retirement: “Not really. I mean, people always have those thoughts, I think it’s normal. I definitely have had the thoughts, but I’ve never seriously considered retiring. The one time I thought I might have to prematurely is early 2018, when I was diagnosed with blood clots in my lungs. And that was actually right at the end of an Impact taping. And I ended up in the hospital for three days, and I had to be on blood thinners for six months. My contract with Impact expired during that time. So I didn’t know if I was ever going to be able to wrestle again. I had to go to a hematologist and get a bunch of different testing to determine whether they felt that this was caused genetically, or if it was caused by like, outside medication, thinks like that.

“I think it’s pretty obvious since I’m still wrestling that it wasn’t genetic, thank God. But that was up in the air for those six months is, am I ever going to wrestle again? Because if I had to stay on blood thinners for the rest of my life it would have been very, very stupid of me to continue to wrestle. Because any type of hemorrhaging could be the end if you’re on major blood thinners like that. I’ve been cut, I’ve been busted open in wrestling so many times. Even something internal that I didn’t know, you know. If I get hit in the head, then I could have a brain leak. So it could have ended my entire career. But other than that, I don’t see myself ever not being involved in wrestling in some capacity.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Wilde On with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.